Autopsy: Woman who died in sheriff’s van killed herself

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Autopsy: Woman who died in sheriff’s van killed herself

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PLATTE CITY, Mo. (AP) _ A medical examiner has ruled that the death of a Missouri woman inside a law enforcement transport van was a suicide.

The Kansas City Star reports that an autopsy found that Emma Linda Lewis intentionally overdosed in June from an antidepressant and cocaine. The 50-year-old Platte City woman wasn’t breathing when the Platte County sheriff’s office van arrived at the jail after a five-minute trip.

Deputies had taken Lewis into custody in June when she refused to comply with a protection order filed by her daughter. Authorities say she threatened to kill herself several times after being handcuffed.

A special prosecutor previously determined that no criminal charges would be filed. Details of the autopsy report and other findings were sealed for 30 days after the decision was made public.
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Information from: The Kansas City Star